Aug 22, 2006

ByREUVEN BLAUThe state should create a uniform differential pay program to accommodate city workers returning from military duty who are now required to pay back as much as $100,000 of their supplemental earnings, a Democratic candidate for State Assembly said last week

"These are people who are literally defending the city against future terrorist attacks," said Rory Lancman, who's running to succeed Queens AssemblymanBrian M. McLaughlin, who is not seeking a new term. "We are not asking for them to get free money. All we are asking for is that the city calculate the money fairly, so that these guys are not paying morethan they received."

PBA,Council Supporters

The proposal has also been championed by City Council Members Michael E. McMahon and Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. as well as the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

The Bloomberg administration, however, has traditionally opposed legislation that would add to the city's already burgeoning pension and labor costs.

"It's a very small sum in the scheme of things to protect this city," Mr. Lancman countered. "We are not talking about more than a couple of thousand city workers. It's not going to be more than a few million dollars."

State statute requires every locality to continue to pay up to 30 days a year to workers who perform ordinary National Guard and Reserve military service. After Sept. 11, 2001, that period was extended to 60 days for employees called up in connection with the terrorist attacks.

The state Department of Civil Service provides differential pay for state workers called to duty, who must choose between receiving their military or state salaries. The state determines the employee's total military pay, which includes a housing and food allowance, and then adjusts and supplements the worker's periodic paycheck so that the combined pay equals their normal civilian salary.

CityStaff Must Repay

City workers, however, are required to repay the lesser of the two salaries upon returning from military service. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services has also asked that the workers repay military housing, food, and hazardous duty allowances."The way the city is calculating how much these guys owe is based on gross pay as opposed to net pay," Mr. Lancman added. "The city is actually asking them to pay back more than they receive. That's ridiculous."

Kristen Zach, Councilman McMahon's Deputy Chief of Staff, said that her Police Officer husband returned from a year of military service in 2002 but only recently received a letter from DCAS asking for the money to be returned.

"It was a huge surprise," she remarked, noting that they owe $37,000 according to the city's calculations. "Now we have to figure out what to do. A lot of people were lulled into a false sense of hope."

Saved But Then Spent

Most officers initially saved the extra wages but then spent the money, she said. "Because there was no word for four years, people didn't really expect they were going to have to pay back," she commented. "Other cities such as Philly and Los Angeles have cancelled the debt."

Most of the officers, she continued, aren't expecting the Bloomberg administration to erase the debt. "Nobody is saying we shouldn't have to pay anything back," she added. "It's just not reasonable the way the city is calculating payments."

Council Member McMahon has drafted a resolution urging the Bloomberg administration to change the way the city has estimated what employees owe. "It's a way to encourage the Mayor to do the right thing," Ms. Zach said. A mayoral spokesman declined to comment on the proposal, noting that it has not yet been drafted.

According to an internal DCAS memo, there have been 1,624 city workers called to active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. The departments most affected and the numbers of reservists in each are: Police Department, 988; Fire Department, 172; Correction Department, 149; Sanitation Department, 65; and Human Resources Administration, 34.

SanitationFaster to Notify

Agencies have established their repayment plans differently, the document noted. For instance, the Sanitation Department has been notifying employees of their obligation to pay back the money shortly after the workers return from service.

The NYPD, however, has only recently begun sending letters to members telling them about the amounts that they owe, the memo acknowledged. "The first letters went to approximately 100 individuals who returned from military duty from 2001 through September 2002," the DCAS document noted. "The NYPD expects to issue letters at a later point to those individuals who returned from leave in more recent years."

Because of the delay, many of the officers have already retired, Mr. Lancman pointed out. Those officers have been ordered to pay the money in full within 30 days. In contrast, current employees are required to give no more than 10 percent of their biweekly civilian salary towards repayment.

"When they came back, the city was going to let it slide," the Assembly candidate asserted. "You can't retire, because the day you retire you are going to owe the whole thing."

Not a Crowd-Pleaser

The DCAS memo also noted the negative media attention the issue had been attracting since the notification letters were mailed. DCAS Director of Communications Mark Daly advised city officials that the matter "appeared in at least two news reports and was the subject of a call to the Mayor's radio show."

Mr. Addabbo, who chairs the Civil Service and Labor Committee, said that he will hold a hearing on the matter in early fall. "The issue has to be paid attention to," he remarked in an Aug. 15 phone interview. "So many of our city workers are being hit with a severe financial burden." Mr. Lancman's broader proposal is in its nascent stages. He is pitted against MorshedAlam, who is running as a Democrat and a Republican, in the Sept. 12 primary election. Mr. Alam is also a member of District Council 37's Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375.

But Mr. Lancman is quick to point out that Mr. Alam's own local has refused to endorse him, despite his gaining the backing of DC 37. Mr. Lancman, who political pundits view as the favorite, has been endorsed by many elected officials and has broad labor support, includingthat of the United Federation of Teachers and the DC 37 Retirees' Association.

Aug 21, 2006

August 21, 2006 -- A nonprofit run by an Assembly candidate out of his Queens home cancelled its city contract for immigration and youth services after officials paid a surprise visit and found "no discernable attendance," The Post has learned.

The American Bangladesh Friendship Association notified the city's Department of Youth and Community Development that it had decided on Jan. 25 to halt a $16,000 contract begun on July 1, 2005, for immigration referral and youth services.

Two days earlier, at 7 p.m., two DYCD officials made an unannounced visit to the program, located in the basement of a private house at 169-08 Grand Central Parkway.

The executive director of American Bangladesh Friendship Association at the time was Morshed Alam, who is running for the Assembly seat vacated by Brian McLaughlin, the labor leader under investigation for allegedly helping rig a city electrical contract.

Alam told The Post that his group has since disbanded because "a lot of people have moved from the neighborhood" and attendance at its programs had diminished.

The city paid the organization $10,000 of the $16,000 due on the contract - including $4,200 in rent to Alam and his wife, the property owners, between July 1, 2005 and Jan. 31, 2006.

That's not allowed.

"That was a misunderstanding," said Alam. "We didn't realize it was a conflict. That was a place we were using for a long, long time. When we had the contract, they didn't say anything."

Last week, Alam said, DYCD officials notified him he would have to return the rent payments.

Aug 3, 2006

All you really need to know about the difference between Democrat Rory Lancman and Republicrat Morshed Alam can be found by reading this week's community newspapers and see how each of them spent their week: Rory's law firm took on the case of dozens of Queens businesses devastated by last month's blackout in a lawsuit against Con Ed (Courier; Chronicle), and he spoke at a rally in support of Israel alongside Congressman Anthony Weiner, Councilman Jim Gennaro and other elected officials attended by over 500 people (Times Ledger), while Morshed was excoriated for playing the race card to hide his seeming inability to muster the 500 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot from actual Democrats who actually live in the District (Tribune: "Shame on Morshed Alam for stooping to such low campaign tactics . . . Morshed Alam should be ashamed of the actions of his campaign -- and he owes Rory Lancman an apology."; Examiner: "Poking holes in Alam and Nath's charge of xenophobia is Lancman's choice for female district leader, Uma Sengupta, herself a member of the South Asian community. Her petition was also challenged [by Alam]. 'If these candidates are so concerned about South Asians having the opportunity to run for office, why did they challenge my petitions to prevent me from getting on the ballot?'"; Times/Ledger: "Seven leaders of the district's civic associations also made a joint statement defending Lancman, calling Alam's allegations "a tactic to win votes.";)

The funny (sad?) part about Alam's rally, as the Tribune reported, is that he tried to pretend it was staged by a non-political and heretofore unknown group, "The Immigrant Coalition For Democracy" (headed by, you guessed it, Alam's campaign manager), except that someone forgot to tell Alam that when you fax a press release from your campaign office, it prints out of the recipient's fax machine with the sender's identity printed on top (you guessed it again: "Alam4Assembly"). D'OH!